Sub-maene



April 12, 1932- P. A. H. DEMONCEAUX MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE JIGGINGACTION IN JIGS USED IN COAL OR ORE WASHING Filed April 11, 1930 PatentedApr. 12, 1932 UNITED. STATES PATENT orF-lcn PIERRE ALFRED HENRIDEMONCELAUXQ OF LE PERREUX, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR TO PREPARATION INDUSTRIELLEDES COMBUSTIBLES, SOCIETE ANONYME, OF NOGENT- SUR-MARNE, FRANCE, ACORPORATION OF FRANCE I i I MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE JIGGING ACTION INJIGS USED IN COAL OR ORE WASHING Application filed April 11, 1930,Serial No. 443,444, andin France April 13, 1929. v

charge of the heavy material through the filtering bed by eitherinfluencing the thickness of the latter or controlling the amount ofwater fed'under the washing bed.

The thickness ofthe washing bed is controlled by adding or taking away acertain quantity of the heavymaterial (feldspar in the case of coalwashing) which provides the said filtering bed.

The filtering bed allows a quantity of heavy material to pass throughwhich is the greater as the bed is thicker.

In' the case of Water control, the amount of water'fed under the washingbed is increased when it is desiredto have a greater amount of heavymaterial discharged through the filtering bed, as experience has shownthat the discharge of such heavy material through the washing bed stopswhen the feed of water under the same'is cutoff.

These methods of control make it difficult to use an automatic governorby means of which the amount of heavy'materials discharged could becontrolled in direct relation to the amount of such materials fed intothe washer.

This invention has for its objecta device whereby the operation offiltering bed washers may be controlled automatically by vary- I ing therate of discharge of the heavy materials through the filtering bed indirect relation to the amount of such heavy materials fed into thewasher. r

The device will control the rate of the'said discharge by acting ateverypoint'of time for the washing of fine grade coal.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal cross sectional view showingan automatic device for the control of the washer.

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the valve (19) shown inFig.

The jigging action is produced within the washing vat by a piston (notshown in the figure) which is reciprocated within the chamber 2 alongthe axis AB by means of eccentrics or any other mechanical means ofconventional type. 1

The washing chamber 3 consists of a screen 4 which supports a' layer offeldspar 5 of greater or less thickness on which the bed of .material tobe'washed is deposited. The material is fed in at 6 at the front ofthewasher and moves along in the direction shown by the arrow 7. Duringsuch translation and'by the effect of the jigging action it becomesgraded and separates into a layer of shale 8 and a layer of coal 9-. i

The hind portion of the washer consists of a crest the top wall 10 ofwhich extends above the boundary between the shale'and coal lay-' ers,to ensure that only the top portion of the coal layer shall be jiggedover the edge 11 and into the pure coal trough 12 by the effect of thejigging action, the water flow and the motionof the material in thedirection shown by the arrow 7. At each return stroke of the piston,part of the shale 8 will be forced through the layer of feldspar and thescreen I and fall to the bottom of the vat 1.

Arranged betwe en'the front portion 6 of the washing bed and the pistonchamber 2 is a chamber 13 which extends over the Whole Width of thewasher. The said chamber 13 is limited by the wall 14 of the pistonroom, the walls of the washer and the wall 15.; it is partly closed'atthe top by a lid lfiprovided Witha vent 17. Its lower end hasfreecommunication through the orifice 18 with the vat ofthe washer in whichthe igging action takes place. v

The vent 17 is connected to a valve 19 by which-the communication fromthe chamber.

13 to the atmosphere may be controlled. For

this purpose, the body of the valve is'formed with a'bore 20 (see Fig.2) in which a sleeve 21 isrockably fitted. The sleeve 21 isformed with aport 22 arranged in such manner that as the same is brought intoregistering relation to the passage 23 the chamber 13 will havecommunication to the atmosphere.

In order to provide for the automatic control of the discharge of theheavy materials in direct relation to the weight of the washing bed, asuitably shaped that 24 is embedded within the stratified layers 8 and 9of the washing bed. The float 24: will assume a po-- sition ofequilibrium which is dependent on the relative thicknesses of the beds 8and 9 which, as a whole, remain of constant thickness. When thethickness of the bed 8 increases, the fioat 24 will be raised; on thecontrary, the float will sink as the layer thins away.

It will thus be appreciated that the motion of a suitably designed floatwill be directly related to the amount of shale to be discharged. It isonly necessary to transmit such motion to the sleeve of the valve 19.

This result is attained, as shown in the figure, by means of a series oflevers 25 and 26 connected to the float and swingably mounted on a pin27 keyed on the latter is a toothed quadrant 28 which meshes with a gearwheel 29 keyed on the pin of the sleeve 21.

The arrangement being such, the device operates as follows: When the rawmaterial or the shale therein fed in at 6 increases, the

greater resistance is opposed by the washing bed to the jigging actionupwards.

At that time, the float will be driven upwards and this ascendingmovement results in reducing the aperture through which the chamber 13communicates with the atmosphere, whereby the air in the top portion ofthe chamber 13 is compressed; such air cushion then opposes the jiggingup of the water in the chamber 13. The water forced down by the pistonand which cannot move within the chamber 13 must flow through thewashing bed, whereby the jigging action through the said washing bed isstrengthened; this results in the obtainment of a better grading of theraw materials and an increase in the amount of graded materialsdischarged through the feldspar layer and the screen.

Conversely, when the feed of material to be washed decreases, the bedsof shale and coal become thinner and, should the jigging action remainconstant, then there would be danger of the coal being dischargedthrough the feldspar bed after the shale bed is completely exhausted.

At that time, the float will sink, which results in opening thecommunication between the atmosphere and the chamber 13. As the air inthe top of the chamber can freely escape into the atmosphere, the watercolumn in the chamber will now oppose to the jigging effeet a lessresistance than the washing bed, and an increased amount of the forceddown water will be jigged up into the chamber 13 instead of through thewashing bed. This immediately results in amuch milder jigging actionand, consequently, a decrease in the amount of shale discharged throughthe bed of feldspar.

The apparatus will advisably be complemented with a cut-oif valve 30connected between the throttling valve 19 and the orifice 17 of thechamber 13.

When for any reason it is necessary to take down the valve 19, operatingthe cut-0E valve 30 will avoid the washer being put out and carrying inits upper portion a valve communicating with the atmosphere, and meansfor automatically closing the valve when the depth of the material beingwashed is'in creased and for opening the valve when this depth isdecreased.

2. In a filtering vat, a tank containing a fluid, permeable means forsupporting the material to be worked upon thereabove, means forintermittently applying pressure to the fluid in said tank to force thesame through '9 said permeable means and the material thereabove, an airchamber communicating directly with the fluid in said tank, a valve insaid air chamber for the inlet and outlet of air, and means for varyingthe operative position of said valve in accordance with the depth of thematerial worked upon.

3. In a filtering vat, a tank containinga fluid, permeable means onwhich the material to be worked upon is positioned, means for 1intermittently placing said fluid under pressure, an air tankcommunicating with the fluid in said tank, a valve communicating withthe atmosphere positioned in said air tank, and a float positioned insaid material for movements in response to the depth thereof for movingsaid valve to the open position upon decreases in said depth and to theclosed position upon increases in said depth.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

PIERRE ALFRED HENRI DEMONCEAUX.

